The 32nd installment of The MidAtlantic is set for August 20-25 and is sure to attract a stellar field of participants from the entire Atlantic coast and beyond where they’ll shoot it out for a cash purse that’s once again expected to total several million dollars.
Last year’s event saw 178 boats battling for a total cash purse of well over $5.23 million, and later this month Canyon Club Resort Marina in Cape May, NJ will again, as always, be home port and tournament headquarters while Sunset Marina in Ocean City, MD will be the event’s official satellite marina and port. The tournament gets underway at both tournament venues in the afternoon on Sunday, August 20 with late registration, Calcutta entries and a welcome cocktail party followed by a captain’s meeting.
The fishing schedule allows participants to select three days to fish from Monday, August 21 through Friday, August 25. Boats may not pass their respective inlet’s sea buoy prior to 3 a.m. on their selected fishing days. No lines may be placed in the water prior to 8 a.m. and “Lines Out” is 3:30 p.m. each day.
Regardless of sailing port, all boats must fish within 125 miles of the Cape May Sea Buoy. Any boated species eligible for weigh-in, including, white marlin, blue marlin, tuna (bigeye, yellowfin or longfin), wahoo or dolphin, must be weighed at the participant’s sailing port marina by 9 p.m. on the day of catch. Any white marlin to qualify must weigh at least 65 pounds and measure 69 inches, while blue marlin must weigh 400 pounds and measure 102 inches. Any eligible tuna must weigh at least 50 pounds while dolphin and wahoo minimum weights are 20 pounds respectively (there is no minimum length of tuna, wahoo or dolphin).
Entry fee for the tournament is $3000 and covers all the dockside dining, hospitality and entertainment for the week. Tournament prize money is totaled from a series of calcuttas, also known as side bets, and participants may enter any of the 11 calcuttas sanctioned by the tournament. These side bets have varying fees ranging from $1,000 to $32,000 and each has a designated payout structure and species. In other words, some calcuttas payout to the three heaviest species in the calcutta while others are one prize, winner take all. There’s even a calcutta for billfish release points.
While entry to any calcutta is strictly optional, the payout potential increases based on the number of calcuttas a participant enters. In addition to cash prizes, the top three point winners in the white marlin, blue marlin and tuna categories each receive special tournament awards.
For more information about sportfishing’s “Main Event” contact Tournament Director Aaron Hoffman at 609-884-0177 or visit www.themidatlantic.com.
